Q&A: I Published An Investment Banking Novel

Hi Everyone,

The title says it all. I published a fiction novel, The Pitchbook: A Banking Analyst's Tale of Markets, Millions, and Mayhem. No, I haven't packed up and quit finance. And no, I'm not trying to be a full-time author.

There have been a few posts on here by others who want to publish a book. So, I thought that I would share this AMA as a helpful guide from a fellow traveler with a finance background. The book was definitely more work than I thought at first. Ask away and I'll try to clear up as much of the trials and tribulations as I can.

If you clicked on the book, you already know who I am. So open kimono, here's my LinkedIn to save you some time. linkedin.com/in/vedranvuk

Thanks famejranc for the post idea. (Hopefully, the links don't get ripped out like the last few mentioning the book)

EDIT: Link got pulled for a third time.... https://www.amazon.com/Pitchbook-Banking-Analysts…



 

Thanks! That's exactly what I was going for. I didn't want to publish just another finance / Wall Street book full of cliches and tropes. I wanted the book to be realistic about real banking.....where people aren't doing coke all day.

I think publishers often bait authors into bringing forward the worst of the industry because it's more enteraining for the general audience. I wanted this book to be fun and entertaining but also a response to cliches that have come before it.

 

From a time management perspective, how did you carve out the hours to work a job in finance and write this book on the side? Very impressive accomplishment, kudos to you, and thank you for doing this!

 

I started the very first few chapters while still doing equity research at about 60 to 70 hours per week, but it was impossible to get any real progress done. I then made an exit to investor relations where I was working a standard 40 hours per week and that's where I got the bulk of the book done. However, it still took about 4 years in total.

After I left banking and equity research, I never let my drive die down. Even though I was working 40 hours, I still felt like I had all this time for other pursuits i.e. wiriting a 90,000 novel and getting my CFA in the last few years as well.

 

Really good question. First, you'll notice that most books in this genre are narrative non-fiction (CityBoy, The Buy Side, Liar's Poker, Straight to Hell, Monkey Business..which I love all of those ttitles, but I think there are some limiting factors to writing narrative non-fiction). Here are my thoughts on that as well as some reasons for writing fiction:

1. I thought that I had a really good story to tell.

2. I feel like narrative non-fiction forces authors to embelish stories.They have to sometimes bring out the worst in the industry to make it juicy (easy money, cocaine, hookers, etc.). I wanted the characters to be real and the excitement come from the plot and story itself. I didn't want the excitment to come from this being a juicy tell-all novel incriminating the industry and all of banking. Yes, even this story explores some of the dark sides of banking, but it is really a story of people and it does not try to over-embellish when it does no need to do so for the plot.

3. Lots of narrative non-fiction is really great and can put you in the shoes of the characters, but ultimately it lacks plot and a story. Lots of books kind of just end. I want the reader to be put in the shoes of being an investment banking analyst, but I also wanted a definitive ending to a good story. Something you can enjoy without walking away empty and unresolved. 

4.  I don't think fiction has been done much in this genre and there is a demand for it. John Grisham has written a million books on being a young lawyer. No reason that this couldn't be done with an investment banking analyst. The whole point of fiction is to tell the truth of something through allegory and story. You can open a door to a different world to a reader in a fun way without making it a narrative non-fiction work.

 

Still early on so hard to say how it will turn out. On Kindle books, I get 70% royalties. On paperbacks, I get 60% royalties after the cost of printing which is about $4.50/book. So where I'm pricing, I get a little over $4/book for either Kindle or paperback.

As someone who works in finance and is mid-career, clearly I'm not doing this for the money. To make it actually worth the opportunity cost of my time, I would probably need to sell 50,000 books. Doubt that's gonna happen, but will be very happy if a couple of IB analysts in the trenches, like me a couple of years ago, enjoy it.

 

I remember you from the thread in which you asked about the book cover. Glad that you could publish the book, hope it will be a success.

Question: How much time does it take to publish a book from 0 to end product? What portion of it is content writing, structuring, research, editing and so on?

 
Most Helpful

Thanks! Hope you pick up a copy! Notice the title changed due that thread.

In total, it took me four years to get the book done with a 8 or 9 month break in there. Hard to really break down the sections but here goes:

  • 6 months writing the first draft - this was the funnest part
  • 24 months working on the next 10 or 11 edits....on the 8th or 9th turn, I thought that I was done and started sending queries to publishers. After coming back to the text after 9 months, I could really see the book with new eyes and hit it hard with the last two edits
  • 9 months break
  • 6 months sending queries to publishers....this is a very long process as query letters have to be individualized and tight. So you spend a lot of time researching who to send it to, writing queries, creating a long 10-page synopsis, short 2-page synopsis, chapter outline, bio, chapter excerpt, book comparisons, marketing / audience proposals.....in short a huge pain.  
  • 3 months working with an editor for final grammatical changes and cover designs
  • 1 month doing the finishing details. copywriting the book, perfecting formatting, margins, e-book, table contents, fonts, etc
  • 0 months researching the book....basically all written from over a decade of being in finance. However, spent a LOT of time researching the above mentioned querying formats, fonts, margins, etc. etc
 

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